Text -- Isaiah 49:1-2 (NET)

Ideal Israel Delivers the Exiles

49:1 Listen to me, you coastlands! Pay attention, you people who live far away! The Lord summoned me from birth; he commissioned me when my mother brought me into the world. 49:2 He made my mouth like a sharp sword, he hid me in the hollow of his hand; he made me like a sharpened arrow, he hid me in his quiver.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Isa 49:1

¹ tn Or “islands” (NASB, NIV); NLT “in far-off lands.”

sn The Lord’s special servant, introduced in chap. 42, speaks here of his commission.

² tn Heb “called me from the womb.”

³ tn Heb “from the inner parts of my mother he mentioned my name.”

NET Notes: Isa 49:2

¹ tn Or perhaps, “polished” (so KJV, ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV); NASB “a select arrow.”

² sn The figurative language emphasizes the servant’s importance as the Lord’s effective instrument. The servant’s mouth, which stands metonymically for his words, is compared to a sharp sword because he will be an effective spokesman on God’s behalf (see 50:4). The Lord holds his hand on the servant, ready to draw and use him at the appropriate time. The servant is like a sharpened arrow reserved in a quiver for just the right moment.